Moving out of "comfort zone"

This year I did something which I had not done earlier ever in my life. It was a year of moving "out of comfort zone".
What is meant by "comfort zone". Wikipedia defines a comfort zone as a behavioural state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition, using a limited set of behaviours to deliver a steady level of performance, usually without a sense of risk.
So as is evident from the definition, we usually create comfort zones, protective cocoons for ourselves, one in which we feel comfortable & can relax. For good reason, we also decide in our mind that we cannot go beyond these "zones" as well.
Sometimes in our lives it is a good practice to break these comfort zones & step out of it.
A very good example of this is depicted in the movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, where each friend in the movie urges the other 2 friends to come out of his "comfort zone" by doing an activity which they are "scared" of. Scuba diving, sky diving & bull fight are the 3 examples of the activities which they decide to undertake to move out of "zones".
I fear heights & the pull in the stomach which comes from going against gravity e.g. the rush you get when  you go down a giant wheel.
So this year I did something which I felt was one step towards removing this fear & experiencing a never before feeling - moving out of comfort zone

I did a Valley Crossing & whats more, seeing this even my son was able to do it. The rush I got after seeing myself do it was unbelievable.

The other activity which I did was Para sailing

After performing both these activities, I can definitely say that I have overcome some fears associated with heights, but need to do more.
Next year sky diving..!..

Music Review of Jhootha hi Sahi

Ok, it has been a while since I did a music review - it has also been a long time since I went & bought some CDs. Last week I bought many & one among them was Jhootha hi Sahi.

AR Rahman's tunes almost always take a long time to register, they grow on you, infact this review of Jhootha hi Sahi is after listening to the music for the 7th time..!..

Jhootha hi Sahi is Abbas Tyrewala's second movie after Jaane Tu..as a director. We all know what he & Rahman did to Jaane Tu.. the songs were hip, youthful & also soul stirring (remember the title song sung by Runa). This time the same combination is back, infact Abbas is so much a fan of Rahman that the rumor is that the release of this movie is put off by a week to ensure that Rahman completes the background music.

There are 9 songs in total - so let me start with the analysis

Cry Cry - is a song which talks about the life & how it should be lived, some excellent singing by Rashid Ali & Shreya make this the song to be talked about in days to come

Maiyya yashoda - the contemporary take on Maakhan Chori, also has a Remix version with extra zing, is a sure shot chartbuster & should be the song played in all discos.

Hello Hello - is a song made for Karthik, this song is OK OK by Rahman standards

Do Nishaaniyan - the piece de resistance of this album, sung by none other than Sonu Nigam. Sonu hardly sings in Hindi cinema nowadays, hence to listen to him itself is special. This song also has a Reprise version & the overall composition is excellent

Pam Pa Ra - by Shreya Ghoshal is another example of why she is the best singer in the industry right now. She can comfortanly adapt herself to any song & this song shows her versatality

I've Been Waiting - by Vijay Yesudas is another soulful, wistful, romantic melody. Rahman uses Sax & piano to a great effect & Vijay's voice adds to the great effect this song has on you

Call me Dil - by Rashid Ali, who is fast turning out to be Rahman's favorite, is again an OK number with nice orchestra arrangements

Overall this album takes time to grow on you, this may not be Rahman's best work this year, that would be Vinnaithandi Varuvaya, but this album still shows why Rahman can still weave magic.

Steve Jobs & Rashmi Bansal

I recently bought Rashmi Bansal's two best selling books - Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish & Connect the Dots.
Today i was browsing Rediff, when i stumbled across the famous Stanford speech by Steve Jobs. I was reading the speech, when I came across the words of Steve Jobs - the same words which Rashmi has used as the title for her books.

Some quotes from the same speech:

If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later. Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.

On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous.

Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Hmm Interesting, I had read this speech some years back, courtesy some forward from a friend, but never registered the same in my mind - remember those were the days of the famous forwards, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, APJ Abdul Kalam etc etc.

This speech was very inspiring, I guess the very inspiration from Rashmi to write about people who were able to Stay Hungry & Stay Foolish & who were also able to connect the dots in their lives.

On the Bhopal Tragedy

After the Bhopal verdict the Judiciary has, understandably, come under heavy scrutiny. As an ordinary citizen we should welcome this scrutiny in the hope that something good will come out of this.

At the same time we should not forget that Judiciary is only an interpreter of the Laws that the executive & legislature create. So blaming the judiciary is not going to solve the problem, the politicians should be blamed. I am of the opinion that judiciary inspite of all the rumblings of corruption offers us Indians the last hope of justice.

I also feel that the media is another important cog (Fourth Estate) in the wheel that drives our daily lives. 26 years back there was no vibrant media which could highlight these issues & reach such a large mass of people quickly. Today things are different. A highly alert media can actually create lot of pressure on executive & legislature. I am happy that the Nuclear Liability Bill has been shelved due to this.
So here is hoping that Bhopal victims get their due & our country learns from these mistakes, so that never will a Bhopal be ever repeated again.

Some random musings

Some random musings

1. Our apathy towards anything & everything is extraordinary. We Indians endure everything that is thrust on us without any murmur. Endless waits for flyovers to be completed, overflowing drains, corrupt governments & politicians.

2. Why cannot we do basics right? Look at the steel over bridge erected at KR puram crossing. Words cannot describe what an annoying amount of money has been spent without giving any thought how the pedestrians would cross the road. Did someone say penny wise, pound foolish?

Price Rise and Mr Sharad Pawar

I happened to watch the Parliament debate the price rise issue yesterday on TV & what I saw really angered me. Here was Sushma Swaraj presenting her case on why prices were rising, she was aggressive, she was convincing & at her best speaking in chaste hindi. And opposite to her sat Mr Sharad Pawar, the agriculture minister, who had this irritating smile all over him.
I cannot understand why this man would have a smile all throughout the session when a serious issue was being discussed. I mean there are people all over India who are suffering & here we have an agriculture minister who is smiling on cameras as if nothing has happened.
Well, we get the leaders we deserve.

Starting a new blog

This week we have launched a new blog, which focuses entirely on the HR Technology space.
The blog will be written by Tanzil & myself, both of us have significant experience in the HR Technology area, apart from academic grounding in HR concepts.
Its is a blog which seeks to identify the capabilities, challenges and future directions of Human Resources from a technology point of view. Also we want to focus on the Indian organizations based on our experience.
The blog is titled H Factors - Factoring Technology in Human Capital

The URL is given below here. Pl follow it & comments are most welcome.

H Factors Blog

Best Movies of this year - 2009

This year had some good movies, some not that great.. So here is my list (one's that I have seen)
1. 3 Idiots - Amazing Aamir, impressive performances by a great star cast, funny one liners, great music - this is the best of the lot
2. Paa - Did anyone say that Amitabh is the best?
3. Dev D -  I became a fan of Anurag after this modern take on Devdas. Amit trivedi's music & great lyrics makes this movie a classic. I am thinking that Dev D should be up the list, but seem to think that Amitabh's performance & an off beat storyline carries Paa to second spot
4. Gulaal - Amazing music, Kay Kay at his best, strong performance by Mahie Gill.
5. Hangover - Great comedy with a great storyline

I need to watch Kaminey on DVD, so thats one bad miss from my side for this year.

Have we lost the GKVK?

The High Court has almost said YES by lifting the stay on an earlier order permitting the GKVK Link road (which will connect Bellary Road to Yeshwantpur-Yelehanka Road) work to continue (while not passing any final order) but also saying that a committee will be formed "to suggest ways for going head with the project in the interest of general public and also to review its bio-diversity aspects"
So my earlier post where I was saying that the GKVK will be saved - is no longer true..
You can see the sheer audacity of BBMP when their counsel says that "The BBMP had spent Rs100 crore for the project. Only the asphalting work was pending, The formation of the road will benefit general public"
Did the BBMP consult anyone before starting this work?
What does he mean when says that only asphalting is pending - does he even talk of who gave him the authority to cut the tree & what about the massive loss caused by cutting those 3000 trees?
When the whole world is talking of climate change & crying hoarse over the rising mercury, all BBMP can come up with is cutting trees & not having any idea what environmental damage they are creating.
The big surprise was the usually watchful forest department washed its hands by saying that "the campus is not fully under its jurisdiction"
The early morning walks in GKVK will be a thing of the past for all of us who stay nearby..
Bye Bye GKVK

End of on Premise is near

Vinnie in his trademark style says that -- "If you add up all the systems integration, hosting, upgrade and application/basis management costs around SAP in the last 25 years – that done by its partners or its customer staff, I estimate it has been over $ 2 trillion in costs"

Wow.. that's a huge dollar number..

I have always maintained that on premise is getting challenged severly with customers demanding quicker upgrades & implementations, lower maintenance of hardware & software - leading to lower TCO's. SaaS based ERP promises all this.. there is a definite shift towards these models as customers ask & evaluate these vis-a-vis traditional ERP.

Interesting times ahead.

Bravo Vinnie

Vinnie Mirchandani on deal architect blows away the rather irritating debate on cloud computing going on in Economist, by his excellent take on how the on-premise vendors have overpriced, over sold & under delivered their wares.

Decreasing personal interaction

It could be sheer co-incidence that in the morning I was listening to an interesting (rare) discussion on FM Radio about how technology has removed the personal touch between people & we dont really have time to interact personally with friends, neighbours etc & reading Phil in his today's blog post about exactly the same thing.

In an earlier post I had written about how I am not a great fan of the social networking sites like twitter etc & how modern technology though unavoidable, has definitely contributed to the decline of the personal touch. Dont get me wrong I am all for social networking esp when we need to keep in touch with friends who are far away from us, but typing every now & then into facebook, twitter isnt my cup of tea..!... & true collaboration doesnt happen on 140 characters..!...

Helming India's entry to Oscar, 2010

Read an interview of Paresh Mokashi who is the director of India's Oscar Entry this year - Harishchandrachi Factory. Read the Interview here - Helming India's entry to Oscar, 2010: Rediff.com movies

I particularly like the inspiring comment he makes on the question of regional directors not getting that kind of recognition or financial help. Here's what he says "If I go to a producer with big names like the Khans or Roshans, I will get the money fairly easily. But if you knock at their door with a different kind of a story, they won't entertain you.
I'm all right with that attitude because it really tests my passion. It makes me question myself, "To what extent will I go to make this film?" So why not face these obstacles?
It's essential to struggle on your own for a while and prove to the world that you have the brains and brawn. Support will then automatically come your way."

Of course he is talking more from an entreprenurial perspective, but I feel that things we undertake in our daily lives as well can also draw from his quote. Maybe in my life it could apply to daily exercise, studying for that certification exam.
At times we start to undertake a few activities only to find that we have run out of steam & have excuses dime a dozen for the same. But the obstacles really help strengthen the conviction & resolve to go that one step further to achieve our goals..

Rio to host 2016 Olympics

IOC announced that Brazil's city Rio de Janerio will host the 2016 Olmpics Games, ahead of even Chicago which was strongly backed by Barack Obama. IBN reports that economic muscle of Brazil was one of the main reasons that IOC awarded the Olympics to Rio. Brazil's economic muscle, Lula behind Rio's win

Was wondering that amongst the BRIC countries except India all the other countries have hosted or will host the Olympics.
When will India get a chance to show its might & have the authority to host a Olympic Games.. or is that just a pipe dream. I am optimistic & maybe in our lifetime we will have the Olympics in our country.

Social Networking Shy

I am a big fan of internet & its power, but I was never enamoured with the so called "Social Networking" sites & frankly there are too many of them now. Orkut was the front runner, then we had the facebook, linked in, twitter etc etc.
But this time i really found the power of social networking when i was able to connect with most of my US friends through these sites, esp Orkut & LinkedIn.
Well, maybe I will get converted to using these more often..Having said that I am still not comfortable with opening a account with Twitter..!.. or maybe i will find a reason to get converted.

MSS Implementation - Why should I?

I had a rather interesting question posed to me by one of the HR Business Managers in the context of implementing a Manager Self Service, they currently do not have one & managers have the HR Admins or Deptt Admins doing all the transactions on their behalf.

Question was: Why should I implement a Manager Self Service module, what is it going to do for my managers? Is HR trying to push its dirty work back to the Manager? What are the benefits of having a MSS solution. This set me thinking real hard on the actual merits of a MSS.

A line manager is an extension of a HR function & is supposed to execute the policies, processes that the HR function implements. Manager by virtue of his name, is the closest to the employee & understands the employee the best. Also all job descriptions of a manager would include tasks like managing the workforce productivity, manage turnover, quality, training etc., so in essence a line manager is a "mini HR Manager" & hence having a MSS makes lot of sense for him/her to accomplish the HR tasks.

There are numerous advantages of having a MSS
1. Manager's now have access to all of their direct reports data in one single place, which means that they don't have to go back & forth to HR for this information
2. It definitely decreases the time taken for routine transactions like approvals for say absence or timesheets
3. With areas like compensation planning, MSS would have provide managers with their budgets & they could plan & recommend salary increases for their direct reports
4. In areas like performance reviews, competency management, skill development managers have the information required on their desktops to carry out these critical tasks.
5. It will help decrease the paper trails, improve control of information, improve data integrity - all essential requirements from a SOX compliance angle as well

What this is doing is really freeing up the time HR would spend on routine tasks & enable them to focus on what is really strategic for the organization - like Talent Management for e.g.

Hiring is On.. But be careful

A recent report in Rediff indicates that hiring trend has gone northwards. The same report also indicates optimism -- "as much as 25 per cent of the employers showing an intention to recruit people in the next three months of this year"


While this is good news, there is something that recruiters need to be careful of. This report in workforce.com indicates the discrimination claims that employers can expect if they recruit from social networking sites like Twitter or Linkedin.

Hmm.. while this report is US specific, it gives a good insight into what might constitute a discriminatory hiring practice, something global recuiters will need to be aware of.

GKVK Saved

So.. All's well that End's Well..
Finally the Courts had to intervene.. In what I would like to call a Landmark judgement from the High Court, the trees of GKVK will not be cut & hence the link road through GKVK linking Yeshwantpur-Yelahanka road with Bellary Road will not be taken up further.
Link to High Court Verdict in Times of India.
For this verdict special thanks to all the Vice chancellors of GKVK who filed the PIL in high court. Hasiru Usiru for their sustained campaign & who organized a Green March at MG Road to highlight the issues if such a road were to come up.Rotary Club of Yelahanka which organized candle light vigils at GKVK.
Special thanks to indian Express, Hindu for exposing the former commissioner of BBMP Subramanya's undue involvement in the road project.

Some questions which readily come to one's mind
1. Why should the court's be always involved in these kind of environmental issues, doesnt the exectutive understand these issues?
2. Why is the BBMP getting involved in a road project which nobody wants? A road already exists which connects bellary road, this road is the Sandeep Unnikrishnan road & has considerably reduced the travel time to the airport in the north bangalore area.
3. The whole of Bangalore is crying for attention to the existing infrastructure which is woefully short for the current population, what are the BBMP's plans to expedite this?
The KR Puram ring road junction is an excellent example of what is lacking in Bangalore's infrastructure. As a daily user of this route for many years, I shudder to see fear on old citizens faces when trying to cross the road, the daily traffic jams on both sides of the road have been a regular feature since the sky bridge has come up. What has BBMP done to address this single piece of infrastructure. Maybe a PIL to the High Court will help?
On a funny note here is Mr Subramanya's singular piece of contribution to Bangalore's infrastructure..!..

Water; An attempt to understand cinema

I was just listening to the music of Water by AR Rahman.. Melodious music no doubt from the master, but this post isn't about the music. Instead I was thinking about the theme of Water directed by Deepa Mehta. This is the last in the trilogy after Earth and Fire. I am not a great fan of Deepa's work, & happened to see the above 2 movies for their controversial themes, especially Fire. I watched Earth for Aamir Khan..!..
Water is the movie which was disrupted by Bajrang Dal activists in Varanasi, protesting against the way the hindu widows were being betrayed by Deepa Mehta.
I saw the trailer of the movie in some website, I am not able to recall, some days back & it did have something to do with how a child is married & she becomes a widow at a young age (played by Lisa Ray). She can then no longer marry & is forced into isolation till the time she happens to meet John Abraham & I am assuming the rest of the movie is how they overcome the odds and get married.

This triggered a thought process, where I was wondering what the real purpose of cinema is;
is it for entertainment or does it serve a kind of larger social cause.
Can it trigger an awareness of the society's problems, or is it that directors like Deepa Mehta want to sensationalise some incident and gain popularity (this was the main grouse of people when she released Fire, which did not address the hidden-under-wraps issue of lesbians).

Why do people see cinema?
I for one think it is mainly entertainment & I am sure for most of the masses would not want to spend 50 rs for being lectured on morality or see some serious issue after spending a hectic day at office or work.
Is it any wonder that No Entry a laugh-a-minute comedy is the biggest hit.. if so why do people like Deepa Mehta make these kind of movies?

Change

Hey
I have changed the look and feel of the blogpage... the old one I thought had outlived its exsitence..
Do let me know how this feels..?